


Coffee & TV

by brokendrums



Series: Coffee & TV [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-13
Updated: 2012-06-13
Packaged: 2017-11-20 01:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/579576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokendrums/pseuds/brokendrums
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uni!AU where term has just ended and it's the summer. Niall fails his exams and has to work in a coffee shop all summer and after stalking him all semester Harry finally becomes friends with him. Zayn's stays to paint and falls in love with his best friends Liam and Louis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee & TV

  
It's hot. 

  
Unseasonably warm, even for June and Harry has to squint as he makes his way out of the library, pulling on his sunglasses and shrugging off his jacket. From inside the library you could hardly tell whether it was night or day never mind what the weather was like and maybe that was better because Harry was ridiculously jealous of the majority of the student body who had already finished their exams and seem to be making most of the sun, lying out in the park that separates the library from the rest of the university buildings. He only has one exam left - this afternoon, and he can't wait until he can lie on a patch of sunkissed grass too, guilt free with no looming thought of revision hanging over his head. 

  
He cuts across the busy park trying to ignore all the carefree shouts and chatter and bites down the temptation to forget all about his exams and join them all. The coffee shop is at the other side of the trees at the far end of the park and Harry knows the way like the back of his hand. There's a coffee shop in the library but it's Thursday and he knows that Niall will be working. Just like he knows that he works every Tuesday and every other Wednesday. He couldn't count the amount of times he has walked out of his way to call into the coffee shop that sits in the opposite direction to where the Halls of Residence are. He supposes it's pretty sad and stalkerish considering that they hardly know each other and Harry only knows his name through the tag on his purple apron and a few choice conversations with Louis and Zayn. 

  
The coffee shop is cool, air conditioning on full blast and empty. A teenage couple are slumped together in the comfy sofas near the back but the other customers are sitting outside making the most of the sun. Niall is stooped over the counter, pen in his mouth and his eyes glued to the crossword in front of him. There's more words scratched into the paper around the puzzle than actually in the box and Harry wonders for a moment what he's writing. It only lasts a moment because he's distracted by the lilac shirt he has to wear as his uniform, it's unbuttoned at the top, a few inches of pale skin on show and paired with some shorts slung low on his hips. His face has broken out in an explosion of freckles and the tell tale red of sunburn edges his neck, collarbone and ears. 

  
"Hey." Niall nods. They have developed an odd sort of acquaintance ship over the past year with the sheer amount of times that Harry has been in the coffee shop, even though he’s pretty sure that Niall doesn't really know his name. Harry smiles at him, setting his books on the counter and fishing out his wallet from his back pocket. Niall slides the newspaper out of the way and eyes the books. "Not out in the park with everyone else?" 

  
"Nope, I still have an exam this afternoon." Harry shrugs, pulling a face at the amount of revision he should be doing instead of stalking out Niall. "My study group is scared of sun so we're locked away in the library." That bit isn't technically true but Harry just wants an excuse to keep talking to him. 

  
He's rewarded when Niall laughs, light and airy which in turn makes Harry's stomach flutter. He turns and Harry unabashedly stares at the pink of his neck before trailing down to admire his back as he punches a few buttons on the machine behind him, Harry rarely has to order any more because Niall seems to remember it by now. He leans over to grab a paper cup and his shirt slips up, an expanse of back and side on show and Harry has to swallow and be glad that his back is to him. 

  
"That sucks," Niall sighs sympathetically as he turns around, shirt slipping back down his skinny waist, he smiles up at him lightly before gesturing to a sign tacked on the side of the till. "I can't wait until 4 and I'm out of this place. You going to this big party tonight?" 

  
Harry glances over, following the line of his arm and finally sees the post-it he's pointing at. Harry can't help but smirk at the familiar scrawl across it. It's Louis' big end of year party tonight and almost everyone he had been speaking to all week is going to it.  

  
"Yeah." Harry smiles, handing him over a fiver and accepting his drink. Niall grins brightly at him in response, closing the door to the till with his hip and lifting his pen again. Harry watches as he twirls it in his hand before he pops it into his mouth. 

  
"Maybe see you there," Niall says, grinning around the pen before he leans down onto the counter again, going back to his crossword. Harry feels a hopeful flutter settle in his stomach and he has to gulp at the steaming coffee to cover the excited grin on his face. 

  
"Yeah see you later," Harry forces out of his burning mouth, hoping it doesn't sound as eager to Niall as it did to his own ears before gathering up his books off the counter. Niall just nods a few times, frowning in concentration as he goes back to scribbling words in the margin of the paper. Harry tries to bite down his grin as he backs away from the counter and towards the door but he can't quite stop it slipping onto his face as he steps out into the sun and heads back towards the library. 

*

  
The music emitting out of huge speakers near the stage is near deafening, lights flashing green and red from where they're hooked up to the ceiling. Harry sometimes wondered how on earth Louis was able to pull this all together but he has half of the Performing Arts professors eating out of the palm of his hand so he can go wild with all their equipment. And for someone who was actually studying English, Harry considered that pretty impressive. Louis had hired out one of the huge art galleries belonging to the university for the night and turned it into a mini nightclub. There was a bar along one side and a few of the prop sofas from the Drama Club's spring production of The Great Gatsby were pushed into the corner creating a chic seating area. A huge disco ball was hanging in the middle of the already packed dance floor, fairy lights twined around a railing cutting another seating area away from the dancers. It was hot, from the amount of people already there and the heat still lingering outside due to the good weather.

  
Harry felt antsy already, too sober compared to the majority of the people already partying. He normally loved big parties like this but after his abysmal exam this afternoon all he wanted to do was get shitfaced until it got to the point where he could maybe cry in the loos for twenty minutes about his lack of love life and not be embarrassed about it. That or until he had to throw up.

Louis appeared out of nowhere, shirt unbuttoned half way showing off his already tanned skin. Lights twinkled off his grin as he descended on Harry. He was in the year above Harry but they had known each other for years through school and family friends. 

  
"Harrrrryyyy!" he yelled and pulled him into a half hug, pushing a glass of something into his hand. He nuzzled against him for a moment before yelling into his ear. "How's my little swot?" 

  
Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. Louis had finished his exams ages ago, with the ability to put the least effort in but still pass with flying colours and had been on a one man mission to drag him out of the library every night to go and party regardless of Harry's strict revision schedule.  

  
"Ready to party," Harry smiled at him causing Louis to yell out delight. 

  
"Finally! Let's do shots," Louis announced and pushed him towards the bar, yelling into his ear. "And I have a surprise for you." 

  
Harry raised an eyebrow, not attempting to try and speak over the thumping bass. Louis cut to the front of the line, silencing any protestors with a glare and handed him a shot. Harry downed it, relishing in the slow burn of the alcohol down the back of his throat. Louis smirked at him before leaning in close and shouting in his ear. 

  
"Coffee shop boy is here." Louis lifts the bottle of tequila, his grin settling manic across his mouth. He forgoes the shot glass entirely this time and gulps straight out of the bottle. Harry fumbles with the bottle when Louis passes it to him, his face expectant. 

  
"Stop calling him that," Harry scolds, once he takes a long drag of the tequila. It burns right the way down his throat. It was stupid, Louis knew Niall through the Performers Society and shared a house with him but he insisted on calling him _Coffee Shop Boy_ once he had found out that it was Niall who Harry had a huge crush on. Harry could still hear Louis' cackles the day he found out - Harry had stuttered over an order in November and Louis had never let him live it down since. Harry lived in fear that Louis would blabber all about his little obsession one night they were all out together but so far he didn't think Louis had told him anything too bad. Yet. 

  
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted a flash of perfectly styled blond hair emerge from the crowd to their left. He was laughing at something another boy was saying and Harry felt a stab of irrational jealousy. Louis smirked and passed the bottle back to him. Harry winced as he swallowed another gulp.

  
"Maybe you should suck Niall's lemon," Louis yells into his ear before his throat has stopped working, making Harry cough and splutter at his words. Louis starts to laugh, taking the bottle back before Harry dropped it. 

  
"You alright?" A hand was suddenly on his back, rubbing a soothing circle and Harry looks up slowly, breath stuttering as he came face to face with Niall. He has two stripes of pink UV paint across each cheek and his lips are red and glossy from whatever he's drinking. Harry let his eyes trail down and realised belatedly that Niall has half a lemon wedge in his hand. Niall's concerned frown turned into an amused smile as he took a step back, the tequila bottle passing into his hands and Harry couldn't draw his eyes away from his lips as they fitted around the glass opening and he tilted his head back slightly. His eyes crinkled but never left Harry's face as he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing. He held out the bottle for Harry to take as he pushed the lemon into his mouth, teeth biting around the flesh before he held that out for Harry to take as well. Harry took them automatically, his mind still too preoccupied with how good Niall's throat looked as he swallowed. Niall was still staring at him, an odd look in his eye that Harry tried to pass off as the lights reflecting on his face. He passed them on to Louis, who fell into another fit of giggles, already plenty drunk. Louis took a swig before latching onto the boy standing beside Niall's elbow, who, Harry now recognised as Liam. Harry took a reassuring breath before clearing his throat to answer. 

  
"Yeah fine thanks." Harry waved his arm around in a general gesture, trying to play it cool but Niall only grinned more at his belated response. Harry knew that his face was probably purple from embarrassment and he irrationally wanted to strangle Louis but him and Liam were locked in a pretty intense stare and he knew that in moments they would be kissing each other like no tomorrow. Niall followed his gaze and grin growing before turning back to Harry.

  
"Want a drink?" He asked already pushing his way through the crowd towards the bar. A few people glared at him but, like Louis, he was able to get the barman right over. Harry suspected it was some sort of Society privilege. A few moments later he pushed a beer into one hand and a murky golden drink into the other and nodded his way over to the seating area. 

  
Louis had decided to go all out on the Gatsby theme and Harry nearly had to duck to avoid the long fake crystal chandeliers that hung low from the ceiling. Niall found a spot on a velvet chaise longue and wedged himself onto it, patting the edge so Harry could sit beside him. The cocktail in his hand was strong and sickly sweet but he drank it quickly like Niall did so he was able to drink the beer slower. He hadn't drank in a few weeks, instead using his nights to cram in some revision so it was hitting him quicker than usual and he was already feeling pretty drunk. 

  
"So." Niall began, lurching forward so Harry could hear him. This close, Harry noticed the lack of focus in his eyes and he knew that Niall was already drunk. "You like coffee." 

  
Harry couldn't help the flush on his cheeks or the grimace on his face, Louis hadn't been as silent as he had hoped. Niall giggled into the lip of his beer bottle at Harry's reaction. 

  
"How long have you known?" Harry asked tensing with the dread of Niall's reaction. Niall giggled again, a knowing glint in his eye as he leaned forward. Harry could smell sweat and an under layer of something sweet off his neck. Niall's hand came up to steady him against his shoulder, palm hot through the fabric of his shirt. 

  
"I've no idea what you're talking about." Niall shrugged, still grinning but Harry felt his stomach muscles relax as he realised that Niall wasn't going to make fun of him for his crush. Harry gave him a small smile before he downed half his beer - so much for slowing his drinking down. Niall had nearly drained his and he set it onto the antique looking coffee table that sat in the middle of all the sofas and cushions. Harry played with the label of his bottle as Niall turned on the couch, bringing a leg up so he could angle himself towards Harry more. Harry suddenly felt nervous, unsure of what Niall was planning and lightheaded from the heat and alcohol. Distantly he was aware of the disco lights turning to strobes along with the beat of the song and it sort of made everything in front of him go in slow motion. Before he could blink properly and let his eyes adjust, Niall's face was looming in front of him, hand moving from his shoulder up to cup his jaw and he was kissing him. 

  
It was sloppy considering how drunk they were. Lips and tongues all over the place but Harry didn't care because he was actually kissing Niall. He had spent the past semester daydreaming about this while he sat in boring lectures about Ancient Rome. Niall pressed forward, tipping Harry's head to a better angle with his thumb, his other hand worming it's way around Harry's side to press into the small of his back. Harry didn't really know what to do with his hands, he let his empty bottle drop to the floor, the crash lost amongst the loud music and let his hand rest hesitantly on Niall's waist. Niall tasted like tequila and tobacco and normally that would make him gag but Harry wanted to taste more of it. He trailed a hand up to cradle his head, thumb smearing pink paint down Niall's cheek as he slid the tips of his fingers into Niall's sweaty hair. Harry felt Niall's palm edge under the hem of his shirt and swipe confidently up his spine, making Harry shiver in the process. Niall grinned into his lips as they pulled away for air, his eyes were impossibly close and the dimness of the club made it hard for Harry to really see the state of him. He looked a bit ruffled and rumpled and Harry decided that it was the best way to see him, he looked undeniably more sexy, half in the shadow and more than a little dishevelled. With slightly shaking fingers he dragged him back so he could kiss him again and tried to ignore the flipping sensations in his belly.

  
"We probably shouldn't do this here," Harry mumbled against his lips and it was a miracle that Niall actually heard him. Niall had moved, a leg braced on the ground and the other kneeling on the cushions. He sort of hovered over Harry, pressing him back into the arm of the sofa, not a care in the world that he was practically straddling him in the middle of a crowded party and kissing down his jaw. Niall pulled back, eyebrows dipping down into a frown before he sat back on his heel and looked around at the few others who were sitting on the sofas around them and then back at him. Harry suddenly panicked, reaching out to grab at his wrist to make sure he didn't run away but it was too late, Niall glanced down at him once more before he rolled off the seat and got to his feet. Harry swung his feet over the edge and reached out again but Niall drained the rest of his beer and pushed his way through the crowd, escaping into the dance floor without a backward glance before Harry could stop him. 

  
"Fuck," Harry muttered to himself, disappointment and regret settling in his stomach as he headed back towards the bar. 

  
*

  
"Wake up sugarplum," Zayn sing songed into his ear and pulled the blankets off of him. Harry groaned something unintelligible and cracked his eyes open. He felt dreadful - head already pounding and his mouth dry. 

  
"Water," he managed to croak into the pillow and his eyes cracked open a sliver. Zayn grinned down at him. He was still wearing the shirt that he had wore to the party last night and his hair was ruffled. He handed Harry a pint glass of water before he collapsed onto his chair and spun around slightly. 

  
"What are you so happy about?" Harry asked after he gulped at the water and could speak again. He pushed himself up and realised that he was actually lying in Zayn's bed. "Why am I here?" 

  
Zayn laughed shrugging a shoulder. "You were in such a mess last night, you couldn't even make it to your own room." 

Harry nodded. He didn't really remember coming home, just snippets of leaving the party and trying with little success to remember his student number to get into their flat block at Halls. 

  
"Who did you pull then?" Harry asked setting the water on the bedside cabinet and rolling out of the bed. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror above Zayn's desk and groaned slightly, his face was covered in smudges of garish pink UV paint. 

  
"Guess," Zayn replied cryptically as he pulled off his shirt and reached into his wardrobe to get a new one. 

  
Harry shrugged, too hungover to be bothered with Zayn's game. He scrubbed at his face and was pleased to note that the paint came off easily. Behind him Zayn pouted a little that Harry wouldn‘t play along before throwing a fresh t-shirt at Harry's head. 

  
"A certain ridiculously good looking economics nerd." Zayn smirked at him, eyes glittering with glee. Harry pulled the t-shirt over his head trying to think of who they knew who studied economics. 

  
"Liam?!" he exclaimed and Zayn's smirk broke into a proper grin. Zayn had been flirting with Liam for weeks, both of them managing to get non performing positions at the Performers Society, Zayn doing the backdrops for their productions and Liam sorting out their woeful accounts. Harry was nearly sick of hearing Zayn go on about him. 

  
"Finally got him when he was drunk enough." Zayn laughed and opened his door ushering Harry out. "He wants us to meet us for lunch. Said he's bringing Louis along." 

  
Harry looked over and tugged on Zayn's shirt as they made their way out of their block and towards the university. It was sunny again and Harry had to squint to see him, his head banging in protest. 

  
"You know they have a sort of thing going on?" Harry warned him and Zayn nodded, smile faltering a little. He gave him a tight look as they turned the corner into University Square.

  
"Liam said it wasn't serious between them." Zayn shrugged. They were coming up to the park and Zayn started to scan for them. Harry noted that a lot of students lying out on the grass today looked as hungover as he felt, it only made him feel marginally better. Zayn nudged him in the ribs. "There they are there. Oh look, Coffee Boy is with them." 

Harry felt his stomach drop. "What?" Harry demanded, bringing a hand up to shield the sun as they looked around. Zayn nodded his head over to a table outside the coffee shop where Liam and Louis were reading a menu and Niall was sprawled over the table top, head pillowed in his arms looking pale and sick. Harry wanted to shoot himself, even hungover he looked lovely while Harry was sure he himself looked dreadful. 

  
"What is it?" Zayn asked as they made their way over.

  
"Me and Niall," Harry mumbled, embarrassed to even say it out loud after Niall's escape. "We kind of drunkenly kissed last night." 

  
Zayn nearly stopped in his tracks but Harry was able to drag him forward. "No way. You finally kissed him. That's brilliant, no need to stalk him anymore." 

  
"I do not _stalk_ him," Harry bit out through gritted teeth. 

  
"You spend more money on coffee than anyone I know. No one likes coffee that much Harry," Zayn scoffed cuffing him around the shoulder.

  
Harry ignored his jibe and quickly hissed at Zayn. "But he kind of freaked and ran off."

  
Zayn frowned at him and opened his mouth to say something but Louis had spotted them and greeted them loudly. 

  
"Hey Lou," Harry murmured in response and dropped into a seat. The only ones free were on either side of Niall and Harry wondered if fate was playing a cruel trick on him. He knew this was bound to be awkward but at the same time he felt a small thrill shoot through him from being so close to Niall, especially in a situation where Niall wasn't stuck behind the coffee counter. Zayn sank into the seat on the other side of him, offering him a reassuring smile over Niall‘s back. 

  
"Good night last night?" Liam asked him starting a conversation as Harry grabbed a menu. He felt slightly sick so he wasn't sure what to order.

  
"Em yeah." Harry smiled at him and before he could help himself, "Heard you did too." He watched as Zayn and Liam caught eyes before they both blushed and turned back to their menus. Louis snorted into his and Niall made a snuffling noise before he pushed himself off the table and leant back into his seat. Harry could still see some paint smudged behind his ear and his cheeks burned from where the paint had been smeared over him too.  

  
"I'm just glad I was dead to the world so I didn't have to listen to you all night," Niall announced groggily rubbing at his eyes. Liam buried his nose further into his menu trying to avoid any jokes directed at him. 

  
"Too right you were dead to the world." Louis laughed, glancing quickly between Liam and Zayn before turning to look at Niall with no sympathy for his hangover. "You had passed out at the party before midnight." 

Niall shrugged. "The sun works in mysterious ways. My little Irish body isn't made for this weather. Gets me drunk quick. One drink and I'm gone." 

  
Harry snorted and Niall whipped his head round to look at him as if he hadn't realised he was there the whole time. Harry suddenly felt very conscious that all his attention was on him.

  
"Oh didn't see you there," Niall mumbled, eyes flicking over him, he suddenly thrust a hand out at him. "I'm Niall. You always come in for coffee." 

  
Harry's insides turned to ice. He raised his gaze to glance around at the others but Liam and Louis didn't react in any way, only Zayn's mouth twisted into a half grimace as he looked over at him apologetically. Niall was looking at him expectantly, hand still hanging in the air and Harry didn't know what else to do except meet him half way and shake it. It was warm and it took all of Harry's willpower to ignore the flashbacks to last night when the very same palm had been raking over his skin. 

  
"Harry," he introduced himself, lips forgetting how to work a moment. Niall smiled, no recognition on his face at all that they had spent a portion of the previous night with their tongues down each others throats. For a wild moment, Harry tried to figure out if he had dreamt the whole thing but he could still feel the tingle of his lips on his sure as day and the realisation that Niall didn't remember was felt worse than if he had made the whole thing up. 

  
"Right," Niall sighed, taking Harry's menu out of his limp fingers and glancing at it quickly. "I'm starving." 

  
*

  
Term officially finished a few days later and suddenly campus was virtually deserted due to the mass exodus of people as they left to go home for the summer. Harry wasn't too bothered, his mum lived quite close and he was in the city regularly anyway so he moved all his stuff home, along with half of Zayn's until they would be able to move into their flat closer to term time. Zayn had decided to take a summer arts programme at the university so he was staying too, going home for only a fortnight before coming back to sleep in Harry's guest room. Campus was a ghost town and Harry hadn't done much with his time off except marathon through two seasons of Mad Men and eat leftover lasagne. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and everything was back to looking rather miserable again. 

  
The bell to the coffee shop jingled as he pushed it open, moving quickly to get out of the rain. He shook off some of the water from his hair as the door swung closed and he walked to the counter by memory, shoes squeaking on the tiled floor. Finally shoving his fringe out of the way he realised that Niall was behind the till. He hadn't seen him since the day after the party - Liam and Louis went home quite soon after that and Harry had assumed that Niall had left too. 

  
"Hey." Niall smiled at him when he finally looked up and recognised Harry standing there, there was another paper spread out over the counter but Niall was busy tying bows to bags of biscotti and the crossword lay forgotten beside him. He dropped the tiny pieces of ribbon and reached for two mugs off the shelf behind him. "I'm about to take my break. Sit in?" 

  
Harry nodded mutely at him, handing over money and grabbing the table by the window. Niall appeared a moment later, setting the coffees on the table before pulling off the violet apron he had to wear. He sat down, pulling the chair so close to Harry's that their knees were nearly touching. It looked terrible outside, wet and cold but inside the coffee shop was cosy if not a little quiet.

  
"What are you still doing here?" Harry asked him, sipping at the mug. Niall had added extra cream and caramel to it and Harry couldn't help feel warm at the gesture. 

  
Niall shrugged, picking at a nick in the wood. He looked a little embarrassed for a moment and Harry could tell that the smile on his face was forced. 

  
"I sort of failed my exams." Niall laughs but it's hollow and doesn't sound at all amused. He brought his mug to his lips with shaky hands and shrugged again as Harry trawled his mind for something to say. He can't think of anything so he stays silent until Niall speaks again to explain himself. "Spent too much time playing music rather than studying how to engineer it." 

  
Harry matches the smile on Niall's face, a little forced but good natured. He knew through Louis and Zayn that he played guitar but he had no idea how good he was. 

  
"Will you have to repeat?" Harry asked him carefully. Niall shrugged, eyes on the cream swirling in his coffee.

  
"One of my lecturers said I could stay and complete a summer course to gain the extra credit. And then do the exams in August. If I pass it all then I can start back in September, but if not then I guess that's me out." 

  
"Shit." Harry murmured. "Did you have anything planned for your summer?" He knew that Louis had a vague notion to travel and Liam's summer was arranged around his sisters wedding.

  
"Nah." Niall shook his head and drank the rest of his coffee. "Was just gonna go home and see everyone there but I don't think it's too bad. We've got the house here still and Liam said that he might come back when he can so I don't feel like too much of a loner. Bit weird, the city feels so empty when everyone's away for the holiday. You're the first person I know that's came in for about a week." 

  
Harry nodded, the coffee shop was nearly empty even though it was a Saturday and should've been busy. 

  
"Well - " Harry forced himself to speak before he lost his nerve. Niall looked up at him from under his lashes and Harry's breath caught for a moment. "We can always hang out. I'm not too far away." Niall stared at him for a moment and Harry supposed that he would be weirded out that someone who you've only really met once is offering to be your friend over the summer. He sort of wishes that Niall hadn't conveniently forgotten that they had kissed but figures that might have been even more weird if he was throwing himself at him when Niall obviously wasn't that interested. "Zayn should be about when he's not pretending to be Picasso in his studio." He tacked on at the end and Niall finally smiled at him.

  
"Yeah?" He smirked after a moment before he fished about the apron pocket and slipped his phone across the table towards Harry. "Stick your number in and I'm sure we can arrange a pint at some point." Harry was nearly glowing as he picked up the phone and typed hastily typed in his number. He checked it once, twice, before hitting Save while Niall gathered the mugs in one hand and waited patiently for Harry to finish. 

  
"See you about Harry." Niall grinned, slipping the apron back around his neck and making his way back to the kitchen. Harry tried to push his mixed feelings of eager happiness and disappointment to one side, telling himself firmly to not be so stupid. They were going to be strictly friends.

  
*

  
"You're digging yourself a hole mate," Zayn told him. Harry had finally pulled himself away from his laptop and walked his way to the other side of campus to Zayn's art studio. It's clean -- scarily clean for an art studio -- especially when Harry has seen the state of Zayn's bedroom. It's huge, white walls and bright light streaming through tall windows on the far wall. Zayn had hooked up his iPod to some speakers and music blasted out from the corner. The art school was normally busy during term time but it had quietened down for the summer allowing the summer students to have a studio each and Zayn had made himself at home.

  
"I'm just being friendly." Harry defended himself and stirred at one of the tubs of paint. It was a bright blue and he tried not to compare it to the colour of Niall's eyes, because that wouldn't do anything to help his argument. It had been a three days since he had last seen Niall and still no word from him except a friend request through facebook. Harry had accepted, trying not to appear too eager and nearly had to log himself out to make sure he didn't embarrass himself by writing something naff on his wall. He had eagerly checked every time he went home for any word from him but he had yet to find him online so they could even chat.

Zayn made a snorting noise from where he was mixing a yellow and red. There was a huge canvas hanging, stretched between pieces of wood and Harry couldn't really figure out what the painting was of yet but so far, it was oddly beautiful.

  
"What does Louis think about it?" Zayn asked, painting a wide stripe of orange onto the canvas. Harry tilted his head trying to work out what it was. 

  
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "I don't want to say to him in case he scares him away." 

  
Zayn glanced over his shoulder and Harry felt an embarrassed flush rise on his cheeks before he even spoke. 

  
"The fact that there could be something to scare him away is not a good thing," Zayn told him before turning back to the painting in front of him. 

  
"Why can't we all be friends?" Harry asked him hoping off the table and walking towards him. "I don't really get how we haven't become friends already. I mean you and Liam get on really well." 

  
"Yeah but that's because we want to get into each others pants," Zayn tells him and Harry can't help the grin sliding onto his face. Technically he wanted in Niall's too. "Correction." Zayn smirks adding more yellow to his bucket. "We have already, and we don't run away from each other and we both remember. And we would be quite up for it to happen again." 

Harry lets out a frustrated groan and spins himself on a wonky computer chair trying to block out Zayn's laugh, focusing instead on the swirl of colour spinning past him.

  
"Look," Zayn sighs, setting down his paintbrush. "There's a sort of Society night out for anyone who's still in town tonight." 

  
Harry looks up eagerly, hand flinging out to balance himself on the table, the room sort of looks like it's still spinning and he's kind of dizzy. Zayn laughs at his expression. "Will Niall be there?" 

  
"Would you like to come?" Zayn asked nodding slowly. Harry let out a little yelp and pulled Zayn into a hug, peppering joke kisses all over his paint smeared face. 

  
*

  
'Sort of Society night out' is an overstatement. A few hours after dinner Harry finds himself squeezed into the corner of a booth in a local pub that he's never been too and is sort of out of the normal student hang outs. Zayn is beside him, deep in conversation with a girl about some artist from France that Harry's never heard of. A girl from Holland is sitting on his other side and Harry literally has no idea what she's saying to him so he keeps finding himself smiling and nodding to a lot of what she says and hopes she isn't too offended that he can't make out a word. Three other people have turned up and Harry has no clue who they are, except that they are not Niall. 

  
To make matters worse it's karaoke night.

  
Harry is half way through a very rough rendition of 'I've Got You' with the girl from Holland when the door to the bar opens and Harry nearly falls off the makeshift stage because Niall slips into the bar, shaking rain out of his hair as he shrugs off his coat and makes his way towards Zayn's table.   

  
"Sounding good Harry," Niall calls when Harry makes his way back to his seat a minute later with a modest spattering of applause. He falls into his seat and nearly glows at the praise coming from Niall. Zayn laughs at him from Niall's other side. "Too bad about Anya though." 

  
The girl doesn't look too put out by the insult, instead slipping off to the bar with Zayn leaving Harry alone with Niall. He smells of rain and coffee and Harry realises that under a navy cardigan he's wearing his lilac shirt from work. They fall into a sort of awkward lull, Harry wracking his brains for something interesting to say but he can't think of anything so he stares at the froth at the bottom of his pint glass. Niall has to squeeze up against him when they come back, drinks in hands and animated chatter about someone Harry doesn't know. Niall jumps right into the conversation, making everyone laugh but Harry can't do much else than watch his lips move and take note of how his fingers circle the bottom of the glass. 

  
"Niall!" Someone crows across the table and Niall shakes his head as if he knows what's coming. 

  
"Ah come on." Zayn nudges him, trying to hit his ribs but Niall just laughs and shakes his head harder.

  
"Nope. I do not do karaoke." Niall tells them. "You know I don't. Unless there's a guitar involved I'm not getting on that stage." 

Harry doesn't really know what's going on but all the girls look really disappointed, moaning of how he should get up there. He has the urge to tell them to fuck off when they start their begging again but Niall doesn't look annoyed. Instead, he just laughs again and finishes up his drink. Zayn's given up, just grinning at him in a way that makes Harry feel that he's missed out on a joke between them.

  
"Zayn will have a go, though," Niall tells them with a smirk aimed at Zayn and the girls let out a squeal, downing their drinks and linking arms with Zayn before hauling him up on the stage. Harry can't help but laugh at him, he looks a little embarrassed, cheeks flushing but Harry's heard him sing and knows that he isn't all that bad. They pick 'I Will Survive' and Niall laughs out a half moan against Harry's shoulder. Harry tenses. He hadn't realised that Niall was that close to him. On stage, Zayn starts singing, laughing out the lines as the girls start to sing along with him. 

  
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Niall asks him and Harry drags his eyes away from Zayn and turn back to Niall. He's sipping from his glass, thumb rubbing at the condensation. They're the only two at the table, all the others either on stage or on their feet cheering Zayn on. 

  
"Em." Harry shrugs. He doesn't really have any other than start season three of Mad Men. "Maybe head into town, look around for a job." 

  
Niall nods, sliding the glass onto the table so it clinks against Harry's. Harry's throat is dry and he desperately wants a sip of his drink but Niall has sort edged up on him, arms pressed against him and he doesn't want to move in case Niall will sit back again. Zayn hits a high note in the time it takes Niall to answer and it's quiet in the shouts and laughter from the crowd around the karaoke system. 

  
"Well," Niall starts off, thumb reaching out to fiddle with the dog eared beer mat sitting on the polished wood. "If you're about, swing round for coffee sure. It's absolutely dead with no students being about." 

  
Harry tries his hardest not to over-analyse it. It's just Niall asking him to go round and drink coffee. Where he works. Because he's bored. It is in no way a date. But Harry's body reacts anyway, there's a swooping in his stomach and a ringing in his ears that has nothing to do with Zayn and Gloria Gaynor. Niall looks up at him, chin digging into his shoulder as he peers round. His eyes are wide and Harry thinks he sees something hopeful in them but he puts it down to the dim lights and the beer they've all drunk. 

  
"Yeah." Harry forces out just as Zayn makes his way back to the table, wide grin and drinks in each hand. "Sure, if I'm about." 

  
Niall smiles at him, nodding his head slightly before he sits up right, hand outstretched and accepting one of the glasses Zayn is slamming onto the table. 

  
"Barbie Girl is up next. Styles, I know you can reach the high notes!" Zayn points to him, grin firmly in place as he pushes another drink into Harry's shaking hand.

  


*

  


Harry makes sure he's about of course.

  
It's another rubbish day and he's feeling pretty hungover from the night before. Zayn drags him out of bed early and he eats the eggs his mother sets in front of him before he walks into town with Zayn. Zayn stays quiet most of the way, moaning only about the rain and the amount of vodka he was talked into downing by the girl from Holland. Harry tries to laugh along with him but he keeps flashing back to Niall, face bright and cheerful as he swallowed the drinks down too. Eyes following him as he and Zayn bounce about the stage belting out Aqua. It makes his stomach do sort of somersaulty things that aren't great when he wants to throw up all the alcohol he drank last night. 

  
They make it into town just as the rain starts and Zayn splits off to his studio with a grimace and clap on the back, pulling his jacket up to hide his head under. Harry takes a deep breath and walks around the corner. The bell dings as usual as he steps in and the coffee shop is relatively quiet,  a few people are already in the queue and Niall is laughing with whoever is ordering at the minute. He glances round, smile growing at the sight of Harry and he points over to the table in the corner, with the sofa and fluffy cushions. Harry settles down, the bright lights in the cafe not helping his hangover.

  
He hadn't realised he had dozed off until Niall slides into the sofa beside him, two mugs of coffee, a glass of something and three misshapen muffins balanced in his hands. 

  
"It was my turn to make the muffins," Niall explains, corners of his mouth turned up as Harry groggily wakes himself up. "These were the unfortunate rejects." 

  
Harry laughs and it comes out more like a sleepy giggle as he bites into one. He nearly groans as the flavour of chocolate and blueberry fills his mouth. 

  
"Also mixed up the chocolate chips with the blueberries," Niall tells him with a glance over to where his manager is restocking the fridge. He bites his lip before breaking into a laugh. "Still half drunk I think." 

  
"Yeah," Harry agrees as he starts to wake up more now with fresh coffee in his system. "I was feeling pretty rough this morning too." 

  
Niall smiles at him and pushes the glass towards him. It's an odd shade of green and looks kind of lumpy. Harry stares at it before looking up at Niall's grinning face. 

  
"Drink it. It's a personal Horan recipe. I had some of it this morning, makes you feel right as rain," Niall tells him, licking a crumb off the corner of his lip. Harry's eyes follow his tongue as it sweeps down over his lip and then disappears. Harry feels like he has to physically lift his jaw off the floor. "Maybe hold your nose, though." 

  
Harry frowns down at the glass but Niall is looking pretty chipper so he presumes it's not poisonous. He takes Niall's advice, holding his nose and swallowing a few mouthfuls of the smoothie and tries not to gag. Niall's face is all lit up as he watches him, hand smacking his knee as he laughs at Harry's expression. At the far end of the coffee shop the bell rings and few people come in, chatting loudly.

  
"Here." He grins pushing the rest of the muffin towards him. "Take away the taste." He looks around at the queue forming, then at his watch, standing up with a sigh. "I'll be right back." He promises before he dashes behind the counter to start helping with the lunchtime rush. Harry sinks back into the cushions. Warm and content to sit there sipping coffee and watching Niall grin and chat to all his customers.  

  
*

  
Harry falls into a routine. He drags himself out of bed at a reasonable hour and eats whatever his mother sets in front of him before she goes off to work. He waits on Zayn and together they walk into town, Zayn going on about all his art and Harry trying not to talk about Niall in case Zayn laughs at him. He drops him off at the studio before making his way across the park towards the coffee shop to see Niall. Niall's picked up all the extra summer shifts in the coffee shop so he's there nearly everyday even though less and less people come through the door. Most of the time he's working there on his own but Niall likes it because he gets to be in charge of the iPod that's hidden behind the coffee machine and drink all of the strawberry milkshakes that would go bad if he didn't. Harry sits at the table near the back, passing Niall every morning with a rueful grin and pulling out a book to read until there's a lull in customers and Niall can curl up beside him on the sofa and talk. They talk about all sorts and Harry feels himself fall harder for Niall, with his rosy cheeks and loud warm laugh. It's sort of opposite to what he had set out to do and the Just Friends Plan sort of goes out the window after his fourth or fifth visit. He's gotten through all of his summer reading list by the start of July and has sweet talked Niall into finally giving him free refills so he has hardly an excuse to leave, leaving him free to stare at him over the top of books or his laptop for most of the day. Watching as he grapples with the coffee machine and serves the small amount of customers that actually still hang around campus. Sometimes, if Harry was doing something, flicking through a novel or doodling on a napkin he would feel eyes on him and with a quick look up he would catch Niall gazing over at him, an adorable confused frown on his face as he packaged biscuits and iced cakes. They would sort of stare wide eyed at each other, both of them frozen at being caught before one of them would break away, blushing madly, but when Niall sat down, a lumpy piece of marshmallow twizzle or rejected muffin in hand, they never talked about it. In the sunny afternoons, they would sit shoulder to shoulder on the steps outside, once Niall's manager had went home and hardly a customer stepped through the door, sometimes sipping at whatever juice or frapp Niall had been experimenting with that day but mostly eating leftover paninis from the lunchtime rush. 

  
"So, I was asked to put this up on the window this morning but I thought you might be interested." Niall told him one especially slow afternoon at the beginning of July, where they had been sitting in the watery sun for nearly an hour. He passed him a flyer before biting into a chicken and chorizo toastie. Harry unfurled it and a surprised smile came to his face.

  
"The Student's Radio?" Harry asked turning to Niall who shrugged and swallowed a mouthful of bread. 

  
"Yeah. Thought it would be fun, you said you want to get into the Performer's Society, the radio is a part of it you know? And it means you don't have to waste half your summer sitting in a coffee shop just so I'm not bored." Niall laughed. Harry thought he should feel a bit offended but he was too interested in the idea that Niall was helping him to care. 

  
"Yeah." Harry smiled, folding the flyer and pushing it into his pocket. "It could be fun."  

  
"And I'm sure you'll still be able to drop by and steal a free lunch out of it all." Niall smiled at him brightly. "The studios are just across the park." Harry looked up, eyes catching his and not for the first time Harry wondered if Niall was flirting with him, but like every other time he pushed it out of his mind going over the mantra of justfriendsjustfriendsjustfriends over in his head. 

  
"You know me." Harry shrugged biting into his own lunch. "I'd never turn down a free sandwich."

  
Niall laughed and knocked their shoulders together, slipping into a comfortable silence as they ate until a shadow fell down onto them.

  
"Surprise!" Louis yelled out, startling Harry but Niall looked unperturbed. 

  
"I was wondering when you'd turn up." Niall smirked, finishing his sandwich and relaxing back against the glass doors. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun but still had to squint up as Louis grinned down at them. 

  
"Am I often on your thoughts Niall?" Louis asked sarcastically, flopping down onto the pavement in front of them. 

  
"Just there's a certain Liam Payne back in my house and I knew you'd be soon to follow." Niall smirked. Harry looked up, Niall hadn't mentioned that Liam was back and he wondered suddenly if Zayn knew. He had been holed up in the studio for the past few days and Harry had hardly seen him except for the twenty minutes it took to walk into town. 

  
"Journeys end in lovers meeting, every wise man's son doth know." Louis quoted quickly with a unworried shrug. Harry rolled his eyes. He was still confused at Louis' ability to quote shit Shakespeare at the drop of a hat even though he had been doing it since he was twelve. Niall smothered a laugh into his fist and stood up. 

  
"Aw Nialler." Louis sighed as he watched Niall gather up the plates and mugs. "Don't go back to work, I just got here. Let's hang out. Let's go to the zoo! The pub!"

  
"I get off at four." Niall reminded him kicking the door open. The coffee shop was empty but Niall was supposed to stay until closing time. Louis groaned, pushing himself off the ground and following him in, leaving Harry no other choice but to follow too. "We can go to the pub then." 

  
"Niall are you actually going to spend any of your summer studying?" Harry couldn't help but ask as he slid into a seat at the counter. Louis snorted, lifting a piece of pink iced biscuit from a shelf and nibbling on the end of it. Niall glared between them sharply. 

  
"Don't turn into Liam." He pleaded pushing plates and mugs into the dishwasher behind him. "He won't stop going on about it since he came back." Harry fought down another annoyed twinge as he wondered how long Liam had been back and why Niall hadn't mentioned it. He knew he was being ridiculous to be jealous of Niall spending time with Liam when he knew that Liam's love life was hectic enough with Zayn and Louis both after him. 

  
"Anyway, Matt says that if I play a couple of gigs for him then that can be the coursework part of the module and I'll only have to the exams at the end of the summer." Niall shrugged, popping open the till to count today’s meagre takings. "I'm playing the first one tomorrow." 

  
"You kept that quiet!" Harry couldn't help but blurt out. Both Niall and Louis turned to look at him, Niall looking a little ashamed but Louis was smirking again. 

  
"Don't really need an audience." Niall shrugged busying himself with counting out pound coins but Louis' head snapped around quickly. 

  
"Meaning we'll all be there!" He announced causing Niall to glare at him. Niall moved on to shuffling through a bundle of ten pound notes before putting them back into the till and shrugging off his apron again. 

  
"Come on then." He sighed slamming the register shut and looking at his watch. It was just after three but the street outside looked as deserted as it had all day. "Let's go to the pub." 

  
"Yes!" Louis grinned at them, turning to high five Harry as Niall finished closing the till and gathering his belongings. "Now," He said conspiratorially, flinging an arm around each of them as they made their way to the door. "What do you think is going on between my sweet Liam and this Zayn fellow?" 

  
*

  
The bar that Niall was playing was the same one that Harry had sang karaoke in but it looked radically different. All the curtains had been pulled even though it was still bright outside and the only proper lights were focused on the bar and on the stage. There were a few candles on the tables that were scattered about the carpet covered room and it looked oddly romantic. Harry had managed to get a lift from his mum into town after dinner but he was still the last one to arrive. Liam, Louis and Zayn were sitting at a table in the corner, a few empty bottles already littering the table. 

  
"What took you so long?" Louis demanded before smiling up at him sweetly. "Your round."

  
Harry rolled his eyes, walking straight over to the bar not bothering to sit down. He had just reached the counter when Zayn appeared at his elbow, yellow and green paint spattered up the side of his face and clumped in his hair. Harry presumed that he had come straight from the studio and he didn't look too bothered by the state of his face.

  
"So Louis is here." Zayn muttered to him as he came to stand beside him, fingers nervously playing with the corner of his wallet. 

  
"Yeah." Harry sighed. He hadn't seen Zayn last night and thought that it was a tidbit best told in person but he supposed Zayn would've appreciated the warning whether it be by carrier pigeon or by text. Zayn half glared at him before turning towards the barman and holding up four fingers. Zayn fumbled with his wallet as they split the bill before he sighed, fingers coming out to grip at Harry's elbow. 

  
"What do I do?" Zayn asked quietly. "Liam has been spending a lot of time with me. And now that Louis is back, I dunno..." 

  
He trailed off and looked over his shoulder to where Liam and Louis were bent towards each other in the corner. The candle flickered in the middle of the table and Harry thought they looked quite like a couple.  

  
"At the studio?" Harry couldn't help but ask and Zayn blushed, looking down slightly embarrassed. Harry grinned at him and picked up the drinks now that Zayn had loosened his grip. "I can hardly talk by the state of my love life but I would play it by ear mate, I thought you said it wasn't supposed to be serious?" 

  
Zayn shrugged. "I think I'm getting in deeper than anticipated." Harry tried to appear sympathetic but he didn't think his face was portraying it. He didn't really know how to give advice to Zayn when he was already shoulder deep in his crush on Niall. They slid into the chairs beside Liam and Louis, passing the beers around. Louis whispered something into Liam's ear causing him to giggle and with a resolute sigh and a long pull from his beer, Zayn sat back turning is face to the stage. 

  
The little light there was in the room went down further and a gentle hush came over the crowd gathered around the dimly lit tables. It was only now that Harry realised just how much of a crowd had came to see Niall. A spotlight came on and Harry's heart nearly stopped. Niall was sitting on a chair in the middle of the small stage, illuminated in the light, in a simple white shirt and dark blue cardigan, guitar poised perfectly in his hand. He looked around the crowd once before looking back down at the guitar and Harry knew that he was nervous. His fingers shook as he rolled the plectrum around between his thumb and finger. He raised his other hand to his lips, tongue darting out to lick them briefly before he cleared his throat softly, the sound caught on the mic that was propped in front of him. He started off with a brief tap to the wood, before he picked at a chord. Harry thought he was maybe testing it out to make sure he was in tune but he plucked another and another and another until he had a rhythm going that Harry honestly wasn't expecting. Harry was leaning forward in his seat, elbows pressed against his knees and staring at him unabashedly, entranced by the music and Niall's fingers as they moved across the frets. 

  
Then Niall started to sing and Harry nearly fell off his seat. It was a voice that he had been totally unprepared for, strong and lilting as it wove through the melodies of the verse that Harry didn't recognise. It was unusual and good and something that Harry had not expected from Niall. If anything, it made him fall in love with him all the more. He maybe thought that Niall didn't sing well because he had refused so adamantly at karaoke but now he knew why the girls were disappointed not to hear his voice. He was amazing. 

  
"Jesus." Harry murmured causing Louis to laugh loudly. A girl at the neighbouring table shushed him quickly but Louis didn't take her advice. 

  
"You mean you've been hanging around with him all summer and he hasn't played you anything? I made it one day in freshers before I was locked in a room with him and his precious guitar." Louis laughed draining the rest of his drink, watching Harry now that he realised his reactions were more entertaining than Niall's playing. Harry ignored him, eyes transfixed to the stage and everything else in the room disappearing. 

  
An hour later Harry was pretty sure he's had died of happiness. He was able to ignore the majority of the jokes the others was making at his expense and focus on Niall as he wove his way through his set list. Louis suddenly leaned in close to him, setting another beer onto the table beside him and whispering into his ear.

  
"This is his last song. You might want to tone down the heart eyes." Louis warns, finally some friendly compassion kicking in. Harry glances around the majority of the girls in the bar are looking at Niall adoringly and he realises he must look like them too. He takes a sip of his drink before turning back to the stage just in time to see Niall finish his last note, the riff ringing through the room and a small satisfied smile resting on his lips. There's no sign of his earlier nerves, he actually looks excited as he sets down his guitar and stands up. Louis is on his feet before Harry can say anything, clapping loudly and yelling something unintelligible. Liam starts to whistle loudly through his fingers and Zayn joins in on Louis' screaming. Niall grins over at them before giving a jerky bow and jumping off the stage, moving through the tables towards him. The whole room is alive, clapping and he has to stop as people reach out to him and pat him on the back. Harry feels an misplaced swell of affection towards him and realises that he's feeling proud of him. He can't get over how great he looked on stage, like he belonged there. 

  
"Hey." Niall arrives at the table, a little out of breath still, face flushed with giddy excitement as he lets Louis pull him into a hug. His eyes catch Harry's though, hands automatically hugging Louis back but gaze solely on Harry's face. 

  
"Wooo. Someone get Horan a record deal." Louis thumps his back, pressing a bottle into his hand before he shoves him into the seat between him and Harry. Liam and Zayn both scramble to say their congratulations and Niall just throws them a quick grin, taking a few gulps of beer before turning towards Harry and looking at him expectantly - as if waiting for his reaction.

  
"Well?" Niall asks, eyes twinkling. Harry doesn't really know what to say. He wants to blub on about how brilliant Niall was but he's aware of sounding too over the top and making an idiot of himself. 

  
"You were brilliant." He says simply, reaching out to clap his shoulder, he lets his palm lie there before he squeezed it. Over his shoulder he can see Louis nudge Zayn and feels an embarrassed flush rise up his neck as he snatches his hand back. Niall doesn't seem to notice though, glowing in Harry's praise before he turns back towards the table with a grin.

  
"Celebratory shots?" Niall asks. Louis yells out a excited response and Harry just grins, standing to go and help Niall with getting more drinks. 

  
"You were really good you know." Harry tells him later. The pub finally shut, long past trading hours and they had to get the barman - who turned out to be Niall's music professor - to let them out the back entrance because everything was all locked up at the front. 

  
"Thanks." Niall grins an arm swinging out to wrap around Harry's neck and pull him close to him. Harry's fuzzy with drink but he's able to navigate the tangle of limbs and he manages not to trip over Niall's heels as they fall into step together. A few steps in front, the other three are talking about something, heads close together. Harry can see Zayn's hand tangled in Liam's and Louis has an arm wrapped around Zayn's waist. 

  
"No." Harry feels his lips mumble. He's sleepy, the night air muggy and hot after the rain dried up. "Really good. Why did you never play for me before?" 

  
Niall laughs and Harry isn't sure that all the words came out of his mouth in the right order but he's finding that he doesn't really care, instead relishing in the warmth of Niall pressed against him, beer tinted breath and guitar case swinging in the opposite hand. 

  
"I liked it." Harry repeats and nudges Niall's cheek with his nose before he tucks it behind his ear. He smells like smoke and beer and wood. Remnants of the bar they had been sitting in but it nice and warm to Harry. Niall must say something but Harry doesn't really hear him, eyes slipping closed and letting himself be half carried along the road until they reach Niall, Louis and Liam's house. The door is already open, the sounds of Louis in the kitchen hunting around for a bottle of vodka he knows he's stashed somewhere at the back of the freezer and Liam has Zayn pressed up against the living room door, hands braced on either side of his ribs, hips pressed together. Niall walks Harry past them, dropping him onto the sofa before moving away.

  
"Come back." Harry whines, a hand reaching out, fingers wiggling as if it will somehow make Niall come back over. Niall laughs again, stowing his guitar away in the corner behind the TV so it doesn't get wrecked and sinks into the sofa opposite him anyway. The TV flickers in the otherwise dark room, just the slice of light from the kitchen creeping golden across the floor. The music videos have a signer in the corner and Harry knows its late as he flops onto his back and curls around one of the naff cushions Liam had bought for 50p out of the charity shop down the road. 

  
"Found it!" Louis exclaims, traipsing into the living room with the bottle and a collection of chipped mugs. Liam sort of groans out a protest as Zayn pulls him further into the living room. 

  
"Come on Lou. It's late." Liam complains perching himself onto the end of the sofa at Harry's feet. "Harry's already passed out." 

  
"Mmmnot!" Harry half heartedly protests but his eyes are falling shut as he watches Rihanna's rhythmic dancing on mute. 

  
"I'm pulling the early shift as well." Niall shrugs sitting forward, elbows on his knees as he glances up apologetically at Louis who has the neck of the vodka bottle poised over a wonky looking mug. 

  
"What?" Louis huffs. "I thought we'd have a party." 

  
"Already had a party. Played guitar Lou. Niall has really nice hands." Harry murmurs but it comes out in a garbled mess. Louis ignores him anyway and turns to Liam who can't keep his eyes away from Zayn who is standing against the doorframe, shirt rumpled and eyes dark. 

  
"We can have a party upstairs." He suggests quietly, finding confidence in the alcohol coursing through his veins and the looks Zayn keeps throwing him. Louis nearly drops the vodka bottle in shock and Niall splutters out a shocked laugh. Zayn smirks, eyes lighting up in anticipation as Liam stands up from the sofa, an arm reaching out to circle round Louis neck and pull him into a searing kiss. 

  
"Ok." Niall mumbles, blinking back to Rihanna for a moment but glancing back when Louis lets out a rather aroused groan. "Enough PDA. Off you run upstairs please." And with a resigned sigh like he can't quite believe he's saying it. "All three of you." 

  
Louis grins at him, letting himself be dragged out of the room by Liam who is staring after Zayn as he walks slowly up the stairs. 

  
"Night night." Harry murmurs into his cushion as Niall pulls a random blanket over him and drops down onto the opposite sofa, raising the volume of the TV quickly as he hears an overly loud moan from upstairs.  

  
*

  
Harry gets the job at the radio station. He's hungover during the interview but he has a sneaking suspicion that no one else had applied for the job. He isn't doing anything remotely interesting, learning how to work the photocopier and making tea for the students who actually speak on air, but somehow it manages to take up most of his free time anyway. He doesn't see Niall or Louis at all and only runs into Zayn the odd time at home but he's normally always running out to buy more paint or go out with Liam and Louis. Typically, the first day he gets off it rains but he somehow manages to find himself standing outside, just down the road from the coffee shop staring at a rusting 2003 Silver Micra as rain poured down on them.

  
"What the fuck is that?" Zayn asks flatly but Niall doesn't seem to notice his tone, the grin on his face barely matching the excited screech in his voice. 

  
"My car!" He exclaims, pushing his wet fringe out of his eyes with a flash of teeth. "My mam felt bad for me staying over here all summer so she sent me a few hundred quid. So I bought a car!" 

  
"It's a rust bucket." Louis tells him honestly. "And looks like it's going to fall apart." 

  
"It's only a few years old." Niall shrugs off the insults and sticks the key in the lock. "Who wants to go for a spin." 

  
"Do they have licenses in Ireland?" Liam asks idly from where he's standing under an umbrella a few feet away, leaning against a soaked bollard and eyeing the car warily. Niall spins around to glare at him.

  
"Yes Liam." Niall huffs. "Amazingly, along with sliced bread and electricity, the Irish know how to build a road and then drive on it." 

Liam blushed. "Sorry. Still not getting into the car mate." 

  
"Why not?" Niall demanded when none of them offered to get in the passenger seat. "Louis, we can go to the zoo. I'll drive you there." 

  
"The bus goes right by it." Louis reasoned. "We can get the 16A and be there before lunchtime." 

  
"We can go now, by car, and be there in half an hour." Niall nearly snaps at him. Harry can tell he's getting irritated by the lack of enthusiasm they're all showing him. He's itching to offer to go with him but he knows that Louis will never let him live it down, and that's only if he's able to return from the trip in one piece. The car does look in shockingly bad condition.

  
"Can we go inside please?" Harry asks, the weather is miserable and he didn't particularly fancy spending his first morning off in a while in the middle of a squabble. "Get coffee?" 

  
"Yeah." Zayn nods. Cigarette papers going limp with raindrops in his fingers. He groans frustratedly before thrusting both fists into his jeans pockets and ducking under Liam's umbrella. Liam grins at him, eyes going soft and pressing in for a kiss. Harry kind of wants to shove them off a cliff. They've been like this all morning, Louis has been just as bad, switching between annoyingly sweet towards them all and pissed because Liam and Zayn are kissing without him again. Louis catches them, sending them a silent tense stare before he loops an arm around Liam's waist and tugs him close to his side forcing Zayn out into the rain again.

  
"Yes." Louis agrees, eyes flashing towards a glowering Niall. "Coffee, where it's nice and dry. And far away from a road." 

  
"Fuck you Louis." Niall sighs morosely slamming the door closed and marching off. "You can all pay for your own fucking coffee and don't come running to me when you need a lift anywhere!"

  
Louis sniggers at Niall's mood and grips at Liam's hand before he drag him off after Niall. Harry pulls his coat tighter around himself and falls into step with Zayn who is glaring at the back of Louis' head just as harshly as Niall had been, pulling his tobacco out of his pocket again. 

  
"Trouble in paradise?" Harry asks lightly and Zayn directs his glare at him instead. 

  
"Sorry." Harry apologises and Zayn looks in front again as they near the coffee shop. Louis and Liam are laughing at something, huddled tight under the umbrella as they reach the door that Niall has just slammed through. "Louis is a little possessive?" Harry asks tentively as they watch Louis slip his hand into the back pocket of Liam's jeans and pull him close.

  
"A little is an understatement." Zayn sighs darkly giving up on his second attempt at rolling a cigarette. "Hardly get a moment alone with Liam, but when he's not there Louis is all over me like a rash." Harry stays silent. They slow down as they reach the door and through the glass they can see the other two pester Niall near the counter. 

  
"I don't know. Maybe I was expecting something different. It's giving me lots of inspiration for my art." Zayn shrugs, hand resting on the handle but he makes no effort to push through the door. 

  
"But is it good?" Harry can't help but ask. 

  
"When it's good, it's really good. Really really good." Zayn's mouth twists into a smile and he gives a half shrug. "Together they're amazing. And I really love being a part of it."

  
Harry doesn't get a chance to answer because Zayn pushes the door open with the familiar ring of the bell and they join the others at the sofas near the back. There's already coffee on the table so Harry pulls off his jacket and sits down beside Niall, reaching out to sip at the hot coffee. Louis and Niall seem to be arguing about the car again but Harry doesn't really pay attention, watching instead as Zayn slips into the opposite sofa and into Liam's side, his fingers curling around Zayn's bicep. 

  
"You'll come out with me won't you Harry?" Niall asks him suddenly turning to him with an adorable pout. His question nearly makes Harry's heart stop and he stares at him while Liam cracks up laughing again. "In the car." Niall presses on, raising a hand to flip the others off. Relief floods Harry's chest and he lets a slow grin form on his face. 

  
"Of course Niall." He tells him honestly and sinks back into the cushions watching as Niall's face lights up. Harry decides that it was probably the wrong thing to say because Louis has a glint in his eye but the fluttering in his stomach at making Niall happy makes up for it. 

  
"See!" Niall announces triumphantly, pulling Harry into a hug so that his face squashes up against Niall's shoulder and rubs against the soft fabric of his jumper. Harry wants to nuzzle closer to him and allows himself to rub his nose across Niall's wool covered collarbone for a moment when he thinks no one is watching. Niall is still holding him close so he can't really move his head if he even wanted to. "Harry will come with me. We'll have all the fun without you lot." 

  
"Oh I'm sure he will." Liam laughs against Louis' shoulder and Harry sort of hates his friends for a moment. Niall doesn't take any notice of Liam's tone, a hand coming up to ruffle into Harry's hair that turns into more of a pet. Harry tries not to relax into it but he can't help his eyes slip closed and it takes all of his will not to let out a little moan. His hands rake through his curls and Harry resists the urge to _purr._  


  
Zayn and Liam hardly notice, launching into listing more reasons they wouldn't let Niall drive them anywhere turning it into a game but Louis smirks at him over the rim of his coffee cup. 

  
*

  
It's late. Harry's exhausted from a long day at the station, dropping in on Niall to convince him to study at least a little for his upcoming exams before he was rushed off to do more radio stuff with his annoying boss. He's just dropping off to sleep when the doorbell rings, followed by a few bangs. He knows his mum should be asleep at the other side of the house and that his sister would make no attempts to open the door at this time of night. Zayn should have his own key and with a dark ball of dread in his stomach he pulls himself out of bed and down the stairs to the front door. 

  
"Who is it?" Harry asks once he reached the hall and sees a lone figure, stooped in the doorway through the frosted glass.

  
"Me." Came a morose reply, muffled through the wood. "Niall." He clarified after a moment and Harry can't get the door open quick enough, wrenching it open with a half sleepy frown as the dread turns to concern. Niall peered up at him, eyes half focused. He had a hand clutched to his nose, blood spilling through his fingers and there was spots on his cheeks where it was already drying into dark brown flakes. The other hand was gripping the brick to his right and keeping him upright. 

  
"What happened?" Harry asked shaking the sleep from his head and opening the door wider allowing him to stumble through. "Why are you hurt? How did you get here? Did you walk?"

  
His voice rose a few octaves but he couldn't find the mind space to be embarrassed at how high it went. Niall collapsed against the banister with a muffled mumble of an answer that Harry sort of worked out as 'taxi' and 'fight' before he wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him up the stairs and towards the bathroom. 

  
"Who did this?" Harry asked again as he pushed Niall onto the edge of the bath hunted for a clean face cloth in the cupboard beside the sink. Niall swayed dangerously on the porcelain, his free hand gripping the edge tight while the other is still clutched protectively around his nose. "Niall." Harry has to say to keep him awake and alert as he finally finds a face cloth and soaks it under the warm tap.  

  
"Zayn." Niall answers, voice thick with blood and his blocked nose. "We got in a fight. I didn't know where else to go, he's at ours with his fuck buddy boyfriends." 

  
Harry rose an eyebrow at Niall. It was the first time he heard him speak bitterly about the little arrangement the three of them had going on. Niall was normally laughing at them for actually going through it and Harry suspected a little impressed, but obviously not.

  
"You were supposed to be studying." Harry couldn't help but chastise Niall as he thought back to the last conversation he had had with him today over lunch. Niall's eyes flicked apologetically up to his.

  
"I was studying." He insisted but the seriousness of his tone was lost in the blood pouring from his nose. "In the pub." He tacks on at the end with a quirk of his lips. Only Niall can be injured but still manage to find something funny to giggle at.  

  
Harry shook his head, trying to look unimpressed but he sensed that the only expression on his face would be of worry. He reached forward, hand curling around Niall's wrist and encouraging him to gingerly remove his hand from his nose.  

  
"Go gentle." Niall warned all mirth gone from his voice and Harry suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as he stepped forward into the V of Niall's legs, damp face cloth in hand. He lifted Niall's hand the rest of the way away and surveyed the damage. It didn't look too bad. Niall's cheeks were already a bit swollen and he knew they would be bruised in the morning but it was mainly just the amount of blood spattered over his lips and chin that made it look like he had been through the wars. He gently pressed the cloth to his face making Niall wince and worry his lip between his lip. 

  
"Sorry." Harry whispered, only Niall's harsh breathing through his mouth making noise in the otherwise silent bathroom. Harry lifted his hand, holding Niall's head steady so he couldn't dodge away from where Harry was pressing. Niall lifted a hand and wrapped it around Harry's wrist, clutching at him as he grunted in pain when Harry pressed down too hard. His eyes flicking up, still a little unfocused but brilliantly blue and open when Harry looked down at him. Harry forced himself to breathe properly as he wiped away as much of the blood as he could, the water in the sink turning a sickly pale pink. 

  
"I don't think it's broken." Harry whispers again trying not to break the silence. Niall's eyes follow him as he takes a step back before turning to hoak around in the cupboard beside the bath. 

  
"It just keeps bleeding." Niall told him, hand going up to try and stem the blood that was still trickling over his lips. He glanced over and caught sight of what Harry was holding his hand and if it was possible went paler. "No." He shook his head before wincing and glaring at him wide eyed. "I'm not putting that up my nose. That only happens in the movies." 

  
Harry laughed, pulling off the wrapper to one of his sisters tampons. "It works. Are you going to stop being a cry baby and get over yourself?" He knew that Niall didn't really need it but a part of him wants to embarrass him now that he's here. 

  
The glare Niall shoots at him only makes him want to laugh harder, holding his palm protectively over his nose and lips pushing out into a pout.

  
"Stop it." Harry told him trying to be stern, grabbing his wrist and pulling his arm away. Niall huffed out a sigh and tilted his head back, letting Harry tend to him. He carefully cleaned away the trickling blood and stepped back to look at him trying his best not to laugh. He looked ridiculous, stormy eyes and a pout, his face still pink with smears of blood and a tampon up his nose. 

  
"Come on." Harry said gently throwing the cloth in the sink and pulling Niall off the bath. "Bed and we'll figure this all out tomorrow. We can call around to the studio and see whats wrong with Zayn." 

  
Niall nodded once, allowing Harry to drag him back down the hall towards his bedroom. Harry watched Niall strip off, helping him pull his t-shirt off without touching his nose before they crawled into bed with each other. He flicked off the lamp trying to get his mind to calm down so he could fall asleep. He never expected the first time that he got Niall into his bed to be like this but he can't help and feel a vindictive roll of pleasure shoot through him at the thought that Niall came to him when he was in trouble.

  
"Sorry." Niall whispered into the darkness, voice still thick and sluggish. "For worrying you." Harry felt his arm curl around his stomach and Niall press against his back, cheek pressed to his shoulder blade but his nose safely out of the way. Harry can't help but relax into his chest and tries with all his might not to get used to his presence in his bed. 

  


Harry wakes up with a nose pressed against Niall's throat. He has his head thrown back and his breathing is harsh because his nose is still blocked. His mum is standing at his door, smirk on her face and two cups of tea in her hand. 

  
"I thought it was Zayn." She tells him as she sets the tea onto Harry's bedside table and Harry tries not to blush but it doesn't work, the red spreading across his cheeks and down his neck. He tries to rearrange himself but it's painfully awkward because he knows that they're both semi naked and it probably doesn't look the best. His mother just gives him another cheeky grin as she retreats from the room. "I'm off to work. Behave please." 

  
Harry blushes again but makes no attempt to correct her. Niall shuffles down, head spinning on the pillow to look over at him with sleep bleary eyes. 

  
"Morning." He whispers, breath ghosting over Harry's skin. 

  
"Morning." Harry smiles back at him. "How are you feeling?" 

  
Niall shrugs, reaching up to feel at his nose. His cheeks flush and he lets out an embarrassed giggle at the state of his face. 

  
"Go shower." Harry tells him, reaching for the tea before settling back into the warmth of his bed, probably too close to Niall to be completely platonic. "And then we can go and see what Zayn's up to." 

  
Niall looks up at him, eyebrows quirking in a frown before he rolls out of bed with a nod and staggers out of the room. 

  
An hour later and they're standing in the doorway of the art galleries. The absence of loud music is the first giveaway that something is definitely amiss. Harry and Niall creep through the rusty door and down the empty corridors towards Zayn's studio. The lights are all on so he must be here. The door is lying ajar and Niall gasps when he steps through it properly. Harry can see why - all the beautiful paintings are ruined, ripped and torn, canvas scattered across the floor. The bigger ones that were already mounted on the wall have been slashed and singed, buckets of paint splattered over them in angry explosions of black and red. 

Zayn's sitting in the middle of it all, curled up on the floor, legs folded on top of each other and an unlit cigarette hanging between his bruised knuckles. There's splotches of blue and red on his cheeks, fingerprints and smears that disappear into his ruffled hair. The chair is upside down in the corner and the table is a few feet left of where it should be after a rough booting. 

  
"Zayn?"  Niall asks, carefully picking his way through the splintered wood and broken glass that was spread across the normally pristine floor. "Are you alright? What happened here?" 

  
Zayn doesn't look up, turning his head to the side so they know he heard them but he doesn't raise his eyes and his jaw is firmly clenched, cigarette rolling between his thumbs. 

  
"Did you do this?" Harry asks gently following the path Niall made across the room until they stood beside him. He kicked away a particularly large piece of smashed jam jar and knelt down gingerly beside him. Zayn quirked his head again, eyebrows dropping into a frown. 

  
"Are you ok?" Niall asks and Harry wishes he would sit down and help him fix whatever is wrong. 

  
"Wrecked it." Zayn nearly whispers but Harry can still catch it. "Didn't believe in it anymore." 

  
Harry looks up, exchanging a glance with Niall who looks sadly back at him. This has to be to do with Liam and Louis.

  
"Why not?" Niall prods, walking around them to sit at Zayn's side, beside a clump of dried clay. 

  
Zayn shrugs, dropping the cigarette and reaching for a fraying piece of material that had been viciously destroyed earlier in the morning. He picks at a few threads before twisting it but the fabric didn't tear. He lets out a little noise from the back of his throat and sort of melts to the side and into Niall's chest. Niall lifts his head to the side so he doesn't catch his nose and wraps his arm around Zayn's shoulders. Harry shuffles closer to them, resting a hand on Zayn's shaking forearm. 

  
"Why did they let this happen?" He half moans into his fist as he brings it up to bite at it. "Why did they do this to me?" 

  
Niall pets at him and Zayn finally lets out a sob against his chest. Harry doesn't know what to do and let's Niall wrap him up and cuddle him properly. He watches as he whispers soothing words into his hair, voice lilting into a song that Harry doesn't really recognise but it's relaxing and soft. He sings quietly until Zayn gradually calms down and Harry's heart is in his throat.

  
"Do you want to get away?" Niall asks quietly when Zayn finally pulls away from him, palms brushing quickly over his wet cheeks. He gasps when he finally catches sight of Niall's face, and reaches out with paint soaked fingers to skim the tips of them over the bruise that has bloomed over the side of Niall's face. Niall smiles at him, pushing his hand away and trying to hide his wince. "Never mind about me, what do you want to do?" 

  
Zayn looks between them, eyes still watery. Harry watches as he picks up something blue and Harry has no idea what it was once a part of before it got torn off. 

  
"Can we got to the seaside?" Zayn asks him quietly and Niall grins at him enthusiastically. 

  
"Yes." Niall smiles at him, throwing a quick glance over at Harry to makes sure he's on board. Harry feels himself nod, he would be a little lost here on his own anyway. Zayn gives them a watery smile and allows them to pull him to his feet and push him out the door, destroyed studio forgotten behind them. 

  
*

  
The drive isn't too long according to some hastily googled directions and Niall is so ecstatic to get driving further than the mile long round trip from his house to the local Asda that he sets a good pace. Harry rides shot gun, flicking over songs on the iPod to annoy Niall while he flicks his eyes up to the mirror to check that Zayn hasn't started to cry or flung himself out the back door halfway down the motorway. He hasn't - still safely surrounded by his seatbelt but his expression still doesn't give them any relief. They stop half way and get ice lollies but Harry finds more of a hindrance really because he can't keep his eyes off Niall while he eats it. Tongue poking out to catch any of the melting ice and lips turning red from the juice. A bit dribbles down his chin and he laughs trying to catch it with his wrist and all Harry wants to do is pin him down against the leather of the seats and lick a wide stripe from his chin to his lips. Half of his ice lolly melts over his fingers because he can't tear his eyes away from the boy beside him. His nose is still bruised and the purply black inches up his cheeks and rings around his eyes but after a while Harry's gets used to it and thinks that the face Niall makes when he unintentionally brushes against his nose is adorable so it sort to makes up for the bruising. Sort of.

  
They arrive just after dinner time and Harry could eat a horse. The sea front is busy because of the good weather but they manage to find a parking space not too far from the beach and Harry and Niall are able to drag Zayn out of his cocoon in the back and take him for a walk. They get salty chips and sit on a bench, Zayn squished between them and stare out into the crashing waves. Harry and Niall quickly run out of things to talk about that don't involve creeping towards the subject they've been avoiding all day so they fall into silence.

  
"Do you want to talk about it yet?" Niall finally asks Zayn once he actually laughs at something Harry says - the first noise he's made all day since asking to go to the sea. Harry glares at him from the other side of Zayn but Zayn's lips turn into a wry smile. 

  
"Liam and Louis have decided to try being more serious with each other." Zayn tells them quietly, squeezing a chip between his fingers and watching as the potato crumbles in his hands. He's barely touched his food. 

  
"Oh." Harry murmurs because he hadn't actually expected that. Louis was one of the most flirty people he knew and in the years he had known him he hadn't seen him attempt any relationship longer than a couple of months, and even then it was never officially exclusive. Zayn sighs and bundles his chips up in the wrapper, stuffing it into the bin and stretching his legs. He walks across the pier to stand at the edge, elbows leaning on the railing as he stares down at the waves breaking against break below him. 

  
"I didn't see it coming." Zayn tells them once they've jumped to their feet and hastily joined him at the railing. "Well I did. I could tell there was something up but I thought it was just because Liam was away for so long for the wedding and Louis was getting bored with just me or something. That's why I had been so pissy lately. And then last night - " He breaks off and looks up at Niall with a sheepish look, guilt lying heavy on his expression. Niall just grins at him, giving his arm a squeeze that's supposed to mean 'apology accepted'

  
"Last night." Zayn starts again turning back towards the ocean. "Liam came back and I thought it would get better but Louis just latched on to him and Liam was completely fine about it, didn't even seem bothered that I was there. So I got into a mood, argued with Niall and they dragged me home to shout at me. And then they told me." 

  
He shrugs but his eyes are still stormy. Niall reaches out a hand and rests it at the nape of his neck, just below the collar of his shirt and rubs soothing little pets over his shoulder. 

  
"I'm sorry." He sighs before pulling him into a careful hug. Zayn laughs before his face strains and he's close to crying again.

  
"Give him a proper hug Harry." Niall orders him and Harry has his arms wrapping around Zayn's back and letting him nuzzle into his neck. He shivers and shudders in his arms and there's a wetness on his skin but moments later Zayn pulls back, face straightened and taking a few calming breaths.

  
"It's ok." Zayn nodded. "I got all my frustration out last night. Too bad about my work though." 

  
"That'll all work out too." Niall reassured him with a pat to the back. Harry knows that he's been on the phone to Liam and Louis back home and told them in no uncertain terms to fix it. "Now who wants to go for a swim?" 

  
"Skinny-dipping!" Harry immediately chips in. Zayn laughs.

  
"It's still light outside!" He shakes his head but Niall is already pulling off his cardigan. "Clothes back on Horan!" 

  
Niall giggles, reaching out to grab Zayn's hand and tug him back towards the beach. 

  
"Come on, it'll be fun." Niall promises. "I won't let you drown if that's what you're worried about. Swear." 

  
The water is cold and it makes them hop about until their skin acclimatises. Zayn goes in until the waves are just lapping around mid shin, jeans rolled up to the knee. He folds his arms and refuses to go any further. Niall is standing thigh deep, trying to coax Zayn to go further but his teeth are chattering too visibly to make a convincing argument. 

  
"Harry come on." Niall sighs dramatically throwing a grin back towards Zayn. "We'll have all the fun." He reaches out, grabs Harry's hand and yanks him forward. Harry wades through the water trying to keep up. 

  
"It's freezing Niall!" Harry complains but grips his hand tighter and lets himself be pulled deeper, not caring that the water is soaking into the hem of his t-shirt they're so deep now. Niall laughs, tugging him closer before launching himself at him. Harry manages to catch him, the breath knocked out of him as they sway in the water. Niall is yelling something into his hair but he can't make it out as they topple backwards. Harry gasps as his whole chest is soaked, his head dunks below the water and all his muscles seize up at the sudden frigid water. He can feel Niall's feet kick against him, legs tangling as their feet try to find the sea bed again. Niall's hand is still wrapped in his own and Harry feels a tug on it and he's suddenly out of the water, gasping and spluttering, half hanging onto Niall because his feet are slipping on the sand. Zayn is bent double laughing from his spot closer to the beach and Niall is managing to giggle through his splutters and winces at his nose.

  
"You dickhead!" Harry yells at him, finally able to stand on his own and trying to shake out his hair. 

  
"Sorry." Niall grins, a hand coming up to brush away the hair that's matted to Harry's forehead. Harry struggles to breathe when he realises how close they are, nearly sharing air, his hand still clutched in Niall's. He's absolutely freezing, arms locking and toes curling into the sand but the shivers running down his spine are more to do with Niall's proximity than how cold he is. Niall stares right back at him and it's like neither of them breathe for a few moments until Harry reluctantly breaks his eye line and glances over his shoulder at Zayn, who is staring at the two of them, faint frown of confusion and smile slipping off his face.

  
"We need to get dry." Harry tells him suddenly and Niall shakes himself at his brisk tone. 

  
"Yeah." Niall agrees and they turn to walk back towards the beach. Fingers still interlocked. 

  
*

  
There's no vacancies at the B&B's on the shorefront and none of them can afford to shell out the money for a hotel room so they turn the heater on full blast in the car and strip off to dry their clothes on the roof. 

  
"Hopefully it doesn't rain." Zayn tells them with a false cheer from his spot in the backseat. He's been overly enthusiastic since they've made their way back to the car and Niall asked him if he was alright but Harry had seen his face slip when he thought they weren't looking. Harry glares at him, he's curled up a ratty blanket that was lying in the boot but otherwise he's very naked. 

  
"No pain no gain Zayn." Niall tells him seriously, hands rubbing up his arms to gather some warmth. It's getting dark and Harry realises how late it is, he keeps catching slices of pale skin illuminated by the orange streetlights and tries to quiet down the urge in his belly to run his fingers over Niall's goosepimply flesh. "At least we were brave enough to go higher than knee level." 

  
"Yeah." Zayn agrees, grin still on his face. "And I'm not going to get arrested for public indecency like you pair." 

  
Niall scoffs turning the heater up higher and holding his frozen fingers towards the vent. The blanket slips a little, his shoulder coming into view and Harry watches the muscles work as he moves his arms. He reaches out and pulls the blanket up over him again, fingertips brushing over his skin and edging into his hair that's half drying into a ball of fluff on top of his head. He snatches his hand away when he realises what he's doing and turns a little so he's not angled so obviously towards him. Zayn is staring between them like he can't actually really believe that happened and Niall's eyes are darting around, trying to find anything in front of them that's interesting but only being met with an empty car park and darkening sky. There's awkward tension in the car now, only the sound of the blower going full tilt and the hot air circulating around them. 

  
"So three people sleeping in a car is going to be a fun experience." Zayn mutters to break the silence and Niall lets out a small sigh, head flicking around to answer Zayn but his eyes stray over to glance at Harry on the way. Harry nearly misses it because his head is still firmly down, fingers picking at the edge of the blanket. Because if he looks up, he doesn't know what he would say. 

  
"Would be much easier if we were drunk." Niall murmurs half heartedly, pulling the blanket tighter around himself, knuckles white where they clutch the material to his chest. They're still cold but it's getting stuffy and uncomfortable in such a small space. Harry feels like he's going to itch out of his skin and wants to press his toes to the vent that's blowing into his ear right now but it's like he's frozen in place, if he moves then Niall will have to look at him and he can't deal with it right now. Zayn lets out a soft sigh that Harry just about hears over the heater and settles down to sleep. Harry turns his head into the seat back and let's his eyes roam over to where Niall is curled up, pressed into the corner between the door and the seat, legs curled in front of him and feet resting near the handbrake. Harry would just have to reach out and he could touch them. He stares at Niall's pink toes for a long while, listening to the slow and even breathing from the other two of them, blinking slowly and trying to drift off to sleep when Niall whispers.

  
"I'm glad we're friends." He tells him quietly, aware of Zayn who has obviously just drifted off.

  
Harry startles at the sound of his voice. Niall blushes a dark red and looks away embarrassed. He hadn't realised that Harry hadn't been asleep. They stare awkwardly at each other for a moment before Harry clears his throat, relaxing with false ease into the back of his chair. 

  
"I'm glad we're friends too." He manages to squeeze out of his tight throat and Niall’s tense shoulders relax back against the window. They hold each others gaze for a moment longer before Harry gives into the temptation and drifts off to sleep. 

  
*

  
They waken at dawn with the arrival of an army of seagulls and a few early beach goers. There's a dog barking and chasing away the birds and its owner sort of stares over at the car because they have clothes lying on the bonnet. Harry wakes first and it takes a moment to orientate himself. He's pressed against the middle console of the car, blanket tucked between his arms and feet curled up against the dashboard. Niall is still fast asleep, turned towards him and breathing softly through his mouth. His hair is sticking in all directions and it looks unbelievably fluffy from the water yesterday. His jaw drops down a bit and he snuffles out a soft snore, bottom lip pushing out. His hand is resting against the handbrake, so close to Harry's knee and Harry sort of wants to nudge it to feel soft warm skin against his leg. 

  
He clenches his eyes shut when Niall starts to wake up. Shuffling about in the seat and pretending he's just waking up too. Niall gives him a hesitant smile and they climb out into the chilly morning air to pull on their clothes. Zayn moans and stirs in the back seat but doesn't actually get up until they wave a hot breakfast roll at him. They drive back home lacking the enthusiasm and excitement of the day before but Zayn has cheered up and Harry is glad that he's no longer moping. Niall hasn’t spoken much to Harry all afternoon and Harry isn’t sure if he’s imagining the awkwardness between them. He seems to be lost in thought most of the journey and says very little as they climb out of the car when they get to the studio and lead Zayn down the corridor. He keeps asking why they're going there and how he doesn't want to see the mess until the morning but Niall just gives him a tired smile and pulls the door open, ushering him inside.

  
"Wow." Zayn can only say when he shuffles in. The room is bright even though it's darkening outside already. All the paint on the wall has been scraped off and painted over, walls gleaming white and fresh. The canvas on the wall are still destroyed but now that they've been cleaned and taken care of they kind of look cool. Some of the luckier ones that escaped most of the damage are hanging near the front and look beautiful as ever. The furniture has all been replaced and fixed and his supplies all tidied away in the corner looking smart. Liam and Louis are standing in the middle of the room, apologetic and guilty expressions on their faces but Louis is looking between them all hopefully, eyes finally landing on Zayn. 

  
"Hi Zayn." He says tentatively, unable to gage his mood from how little he's said since entering the room. Liam edges forward, hand sort of pushing out towards him until he thinks better of it and pulls it back. 

  
"We wanted to say sorry." Liam tells him sincerely, his tone serious and he sounds so much older than them all. Louis gives him a small smile beside him but the normal cheeky eye twinkle has been replaced with a more sombre tone too. "We didn't handle this very well and we know that we've hurt you."

  
"No." Zayn agrees with them, voice tight from the lump that's growing in his throat. "You didn't make it the easiest of break ups." 

Liam winced, running a shaky hand through his hair before Louis jumps in to explain themselves. 

  
"We're really sorry." He reiterates stepping forward. "We never meant to tell you like that. It just all came out because you were so upset after the fight with Niall and I was angry and we were all pretty drunk. We never meant to make you sad." 

  
"Or push you to ruin your art work." Liam adds stepping forward so he and Louis are standing much closer to Zayn. He takes a look around, catching Harry's eye who gives him a small smile in return hoping that it's encouraging. "We tried to fix what we could." 

  
"There has to be some way you can still use it." Louis hopefully mutters glancing around the room.

  
"Yeah." Zayn finally speaks and steps up to them. Liam looks wary for a moment, unsure of what Zayn is going to do but Louis just looks at him with such hope. "I'm sure I can fix it."

  
Louis' smile slides into a grin and pulls him and Liam into a hug. Zayn's heart constricts having them hug the life out of him but he nuzzles gratefully into Liam's neck and let's Louis pet at his back before reluctantly pulling away, knowing that it will be the last time he does that in some time. 

  
*

  
They end up going out. Louis' idea that alcohol solves everything is readily accepted by all of them and they end up in a bar with loud music and cheap vodka. Zayn plonks himself into a stool near the barman and stays there the majority of the night until Liam comes and apologises drunkenly into his ear fifteen times. Louis meanwhile makes it his mission to act as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened and tries to drag them both onto the dance floor every ten minutes. 

  
Harry and Niall decide to stay away from the swirling drama their best friends have all found themselves in and hit the dance floor  
on their own. Harry is sure when they push through the crowd to find a space that Niall is going to find some lovely girl to dance with and Harry's gonna have to wear a mask of drunken happiness but instead Niall grinds up against him, a few drinks giving him the confidence he never seems to have. Harry goes with it, not questioning Niall's state of mind or if he'll remember it in the morning. He lets his hands grip at Niall's side as he works his hips against him in time with the beat and Harry feels hot all over. 

  
The song changes, something a little slower and Niall follows the beat. His hand swipes up Harry's side, one going to his spine to pull him closer and the other reaching up to mould to the back of his neck. Niall looks at him for a moment, open mouthed and nearly panting before he looks away quickly, hips grinding down and lips brushing because they‘re so close. It's chaste. Hardly a kiss at all but Harry savours it. Soft lips against his for a split second, eyelashes fluttering against his cheek and a gasp of surprise that could have came from either of them. Harry pulls back to look at Niall. He stares back, wide eyed and cautious. Harry's about to dip down to kiss him again when Liam appears at his side.

  
"We're heading home. Zayn's wasted." He yells into Harry's ear, hand curling around his wrist as Niall falls away and pulling him through the dance floor. Harry hates them for a moment and he’s scared that they’ve missed their chance.

  
"Shouldn't have went out." Liam mutters as they stumble out of the club, the cool air hitting them hard compared to the sweat box they've just left. They all stumble into a taxi where Zayn and Louis are waiting, Zayn curled up with his head in Louis' lap. Niall doesn't say anything or meet Harry's eye as they drive back to the house and is still silent when they get into the house. Harry's heart is still beating hard, it's been twenty minutes but he can't stop thinking about the look in Niall's eye or the feel of his hips against his own. 

  
Liam and Louis are busy looking after Zayn in the kitchen so Harry follows Niall up the stairs and into his room. Niall stares at him for a moment but Harry doesn't give him any more time to over think before he presses him against the wall beside the door and kisses him hard. It's nothing like back at the club, ears ringing in the silence of it all, just a grunting breath and lips against lips.

  
Niall wrenches away from him a moment later. He lifts his hand, trailing the tips of his fingers over his bottom lip. He looks a little stunned but his eyebrows are dipping down into a confused frown. His mouth opens a few more times but no words are coming out. 

  
"What did you do that for?" He finally speaks staring at him incredibly. 

  
"Because you weren't going to do it." Harry can't help the defensive tone edge into his voice. He so desperately wants to kiss him again and he's tired of all this pussyfooting around it. Niall doesn't move, still looking a mix of shocked and confused in front of him. "Tell me I'm not imagining it." Harry begs, fingers curling around Niall's wrists and slipping under the edge of his sleeve. He can feel his pulse point under one of his thumbs and it's beating fast to match his own. 

  
"Imagining what?" Niall asks quietly, like the words just slipped out of his mouth without much thought. His voice is hitching though and Harry just wants to wrap his arms around him. 

  
"That I'm not making this up. That there's something here." Harry explains immediately. He pulls Niall's fists towards him but Niall half resists, hands hanging in mid air. “Something between us.” 

  
"I'm - you're - I'm not -" Niall stutters, patches of red appearing high on the apples of his cheeks. He lurches forward and his teeth clash Harry's as he catches him in another kiss. His tongue licks into his mouth and Harry can't pretend that he hasn't been wanting this forever. He brings his hands up, looping them around his back and pulling him close. Niall goes with him easily, pressing forward a step so his leg can nudge between Harry's own. He still smells like the ocean, something uniquely salty on his skin when Harry works his lips down the column of his neck. Niall gasps, fingers gripping in Harry's tangled hair and holding them there, lips close to his pulse point. He bites down gently, relishing the noise that Niall makes from the back of his throat and letting out a whoosh of breath when Niall pushes him back onto the bed. Harry's head hits the pillow and Niall is leaning over him, a foot on the ground and one knee pressed into the mattress. Harry is dimly aware of the other people in the house now, he can hear Louis shouting something and the TV being turned on in the living room but his attention is pulled away by the way Niall presses his chest against him and his lips that are working their way around his jaw and up to meet his lips again. Niall licks at his lips so softly to the point that it could be called hesitant but Harry kisses him back hard, encouraging him. They kiss for a few moments, soft pants of breath escaping their mouths when they break apart. Harry's fingers trail around from the small of Niall's back, smoothing across ribs and over his stomach until he can hook a finger under his waistband, thumb going to the button of his jeans. 

  
Niall freezes.

  
"I can't." Niall says suddenly against Harry's lips. He's panting but it sounds desperate - not out of pleasure. Harry can't move his hands, frozen where they are and Niall hovers above him for a moment before tumbling off to the side and breathing heavily while he stares at his ceiling. 

  
"We don't -" Harry starts but as soon as he opens his mouth Niall is off the bed. His eyes look a little wide and he looks more than dishevelled. Harry feels something burn in his bones but he doesn't have the time to work out if it's good or bad. 

  
"I just -" Niall stammers, eyes flicking wildly from the bed to Harry's face to the floor again. Then he turns on his heel and heads towards the door.

  
"Wait." Harry scrambles off the bed to follow him, stumbling slightly as he makes it into the hall but Niall is already at the bottom of the stairs and grabbing his coat. "Niall wait. Where are you going? This is your house!" 

  
Niall doesn't answer, doesn't look back. Just opens the door and runs out into the street, the door slamming behind him. The hallway is silent until Harry realises that the living room door is open, Louis and Liam peering up the stairs at him in curious silence.

  
"What happened?" Liam is first to break the silence. Harry slumps against the wall and slides down so he's sitting on the top stair. Louis gives him a sympathetic look that doesn't usually match his personality and walks slowly up the stairs to sit beside him.

  
"I've no idea." Harry mumbles and lets him gather him into a hug. 

  
"You can sleep in my bed." Louis whispers to him, hand rubbing over his shoulder comfortingly. "And you can talk to him tomorrow. I'm sure it's nothing." 

  
Harry nods. He feels like he wants to cry. He was so close to getting what he wanted and Niall freaked out again, just exactly like before. He let's Louis haul him up and pull him off into his bedroom, tucking him in tight with a kiss to the forehead which Harry wishes with all his heart was Niall instead of Louis.

  
*

  
Niall isn't in his bed in the morning and Harry tries to ignore the implication of that. He has no idea where he stayed but from the looks that Liam and Louis keep sharing over his head, he knows that they know. Louis keeps quiet though, unwilling to rat out Niall because he doesn't fully understand whatever is going on between them and Liam just ignores him, changing the subject or turning up the TV. By lunchtime he still hasn't came home, not even to grab a change of clothes and the anger that was thrumming in the background of his earlier sadness is now at the forefront. Niall's being a coward and Harry doesn't know how to deal with it apart from anger. Liam tries to keep him occupied but it doesn't really work because Harry can't get his mind off Niall and where he stayed the night. He knows that Niall is no virginal angel but it sort of burns that he's got someone else who's alright with letting him into their bed at 3am, no questions asked.

  
Harry goes home and let's his mum fuss over him, ignoring her questions at why he's so upset all of a sudden and why Zayn has locked himself in the guest room. He tries to phone Niall but it goes to voicemail and none of his messages get a reply. He just wants to know why. 

  
His anger dissipates to something more akin to disappointment when he sleeps on it. For a moment, just for a split second he forgets that everything's gone to shit but it all washes back to him. Before he knows it, it's Thursday. And Niall has been ignoring him for nearly a week. He knows that Niall's working this afternoon before he goes to perform tonight and Harry just wants to go and sit at his spot in the corner of the coffee shop and stare at him over the rim of his coffee cup until he breaks and has to say something to him. But he supposes that that idea is quite melodramatic so instead he packs the rest of his stuff up and let's his mum drive him into the city so he can move into his flat. Zayn has already moved most of their stuff in, the kitchen spotlessly clean and some obscure print blue tacked above the fake fireplace. Louis is sitting in their back garden, eating a banana with a bottle of beer cradled between his thighs. Zayn is sort of glaring at him through the kitchen window but Louis is either doing a brilliant job at ignoring it or doesn't seem to mind. 

  
"What are you doing here?" Harry asks him dropping onto the concrete beside him. The garden is small and nothing much more than an old washing line strung up between the two walls and a few weedy flower pots. Louis grins at him through a mouthful of banana mush. 

  
"Being friendly." He shrugs and his eyes flick up to the window so Harry guesses he's just ignoring the death glares he's receiving and not actually oblivious to them. Zayn scowls at them through the glass and turns back to whatever he's doing. "I don't like this. All of us falling out, we should all be friends again."

  
Harry nods because he agrees. He hates to think that this couldn't be all sorted out.  

  
"Well tell Niall to stop being a coward and talk to me." Harry can't help but mutter. His tone is darker than he originally intended but he supposes it suits his mood. 

  
"Oooh." Louis leans away from him with a mock wince. "Someone is on the bad vibes today."

  
Harry ignores him, sitting back and closing his eyes against the sun. Louis says a few more things but he actively ignores them too. Zayn gives up acting moody and joins them, slipping down between them and Harry doesn't mention anything when Louis wraps his fingers around Zayn's palm and Zayn turns his wrist so he can squeeze his hand. They sit there until the sun goes down and Harry is pink but Louis has turned even more golden. Harry envies him, he's like a sun sponge, soaking up a tan in an afternoon. Liam brings them dinner and they eat in the dimming evening light before Louis drags them down the road towards the pub. 

  
Harry's not really looking forward to it. He knows that Niall is going to be there and as much as he doesn't want to be, he knows that once he hears Niall sing he's going to fall right back into the trap of just Niall. He thinks its something to with the fact that Niall is so secretive about his voice and obviously so good and that once he hears that lilting voice he's just going to crack. A week ago he had been excited about hearing him again but now he was just filled with dread. 

  
"It will be fine." Zayn reassures him, pushing him into a chair at a table near the back. There's already quite a crowd, most of the Performer's Society has turned up because it's so close to the start of term and everyone is back on campus. His lecturer is standing at his usual spot behind the bar and chatting with a few students. Candles flicker and a couple at the table next to theirs are kissing. Harry sort of wants to kick them in the face.  

  
"He has to talk to me tonight, right?" Harry asks and Zayn nods immediately. 

  
"Of course." Liam adds as he slips into a chair on his other side. Louis is off being a social butterfly with a few people he hasn't seen all summer and Liam gives him a blinding smile that doesn't really do much to calm Harry down, he looks a little manic. "He'll be filled with adrenaline and completely forget that you've fell out." 

  
"We haven't fell out." Harry defends himself for what feels like the twentieth time, he's annoyed because that implies that the silence between them is mutual. "He's ignoring me because we kissed." 

  
Liam nods but doesn't push the subject, not really interested in getting in an another argument with Harry over the subject. The lights dim a few minutes later and Louis sneaks across the room to sit on Liam's lap. There's a hush over the crowd and Niall walks out onto the stage with a bright grin. There's a yell from across the room and soon everyone is yelling and clapping. Harry realises that most of the people in the room have heard him play a million times before and it's just a further insult to injury that this is only his second time. He looks amazing, a simple jumper layered over a dark shirt. He grins at someone at a table near the front and sits down in the centre of the stage. He isn't nervous like last time and Harry doesn't know how that makes this different but it does. Harry feels something burn in his chest as he watches Niall confidently pluck at a string, tongue poking out in concentration, the trace of a small smile on his lips still.

  
It's half way through his fourth song when he finally lifts his eyes and catches Harry's stare. Harry doesn't look away because Niall's on a stage, and he's allowed to stare at him here, every other eye in the room is on him so why shouldn't his be? Niall fumbles the cord, his fingers slip and he stutters over the words as if he's forgotten them. He blushes at messing up, or maybe it's because Harry's there but his eyes go tight for a moment and he looks down at his guitar again with a pained expression. Louis, Liam and Zayn all turn to look at him but Harry doesn't move his gaze away from Niall. He recovers well and no one really notices anything but Niall's eyes don't look away from the strings for the rest of his set and Harry isn't sure if he's glad or not. He feels a sick sense of satisfaction that he's thrown him off his game and he's glad that he has that affect on him. He wants to march right up to him, corner him somewhere and demand an explanation but a much larger part of him wants to run away and avoid the inevitable shoot down. He's oozing easy confidence tonight and Harry is blindingly jealous of how he can just get on with it. It’s around the same time that Harry just realises that the dull thrumming in his chest that he’s been carrying around all week is not anger or hurt at all- it’s that he _misses_ Niall. Misses his laugh and his smile and everything about him that he’s loved all summer. 

  
Niall finishes and everyone is on their feet clapping and cheering for him.

  
Harry feels sick. He can hear Niall laughing and when he looks up he can hardly see him because his seat at the table in the front has been surrounded by people. He doesn't look back at their table again and Harry can tell that the others are itching to go over and speak to him too. 

  
"Tell him he's invited to the housewarming." Harry leans into Zayn and tells him quietly before he pulls on his jacket. He doesn't need to elaborate on who he is, and saying his name right now is just something Harry isn't prepared to do. "And that I thought he did great tonight." 

  
"Are you going home?" Zayn asks, frowning but his shoulders sag with relief. "Do you want me to come with you?"

  
"No." Harry shakes his head and makes sure he has his keys in his pocket. "Stay and have a drink. I'll see you in the morning."

  
It's stopped raining and Harry walks slowly back to his house. He can't help but think of the last time he walked home this way and that Niall had walked the whole way with him, a warm weight pressed against his side and he misses him even more. 

  
*

  
It's past midnight. The moon looks huge in the sky and so close to them Harry thinks he could just reach out and touch it. Beside him Zayn is smoking, fiddling with the cigarette and watching the tip burn more often than actually taking a drag. There's loud noises from the kitchen and living room but the small back yard is actually deserted. The party has been going on for a few hours, Louis arriving before dinner time with a bottle of tequila and a few novelty party hats. He had flung a string of Christmas tinsel around Zayn and ordered him to do shots, cranking up the music and running excitedly to the door every time the bell rang. Zayn had given up after the fourth time he had told him that it was actually his and Harry's party, instead retreating outside and out of Louis' way. Harry had chatted, forcing a smile at everyone that came through the door being hyper aware that Niall wasn't one of them.

  
"Our housewarming and this is how we're spending it." Zayn sighs quietly and gulps at the half empty bottle of beer in his hand. "Didn't expect this." 

  
Harry shrugs. He had planned on drinking himself into oblivion but slowed down around his fifth drink. The knowledge that Niall probably wasn't going to turn up was making him rather sad and the alcohol didn't help his mood. 

  
"When did our lives get so shit?" Zayn asks morosely, stubbing the cigarette out on the arm of the chair he's sitting in and flicking it out into the dark yard. "I suppose I may get used to it." 

  
Harry nods and lets Zayn tuck his head against his shoulder. Liam and Louis are plastered together on the sofa in the living room, both of them drunk enough that they don't particularly care that Zayn and half the world could see them making out. Zayn had glared at them for all of five minutes before storming off muttering something about 'in my own bloody house' and Harry had found him in the garden fifteen minutes later, ten perfectly shaped cigarettes sitting on his knee and another between his fingers. Once he had made twenty he had lit one and continued to smoke his way through them. Harry had been using them as a watch so he would know how long they had sat there. He was lucky in the respect that Niall just hadn't turned up, it could be much worse, he could be kissing someone right on his own sofa. But on the other hand, a part of him just desperately wants to see his face. 

  
"HARRY!" Came a loud singsong shout from the other side of the living room window. "Where are you hiding? You have a visitor!"

  
"Hope it's the police. Shut this bloody thing down." Zayn murmurs against his shoulder before allowing Harry to untangle himself and slip off the bench and into the house. Louis swings an arm around his neck with a wild grin once he sees him and drags him through the throngs of people and into the hallway. It's chilly and Harry catches a glimpse of the open front door past a tuft of Louis' hair. 

  
"Liam, go get Zayn, we all need to be here to witness this." Louis orders and Liam grins brightly at him with bruised lips, slipping back into the living room to go find him.

  
"No you don't!" Comes a voice from outside and Harry's heart nearly stops. Louis' grin widens, teeth glinting, before he shoves him out the front door and onto the steps outside, where, Niall nearly has to catch him to make sure he doesn't fall into their overgrown square metre of a garden. 

  
"Hi." Harry murmurs, still half leaning on him until he finds his feet and takes a shaky step back. There's light flooding onto the step through the front door and he casts a quick glance over his shoulder to see that Liam has arrived back, Zayn moodily standing beside him. "What are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't come." 

  
He's finally able to lift his eyes long enough to rake over Niall's face. He looks annoyingly adorable, bottom lip sucked under a tooth as he bites it nervously. He stares at him for a moment and Harry feels as if he's waiting on bated breath for Niall to work up the courage to say something. 

  
"I - uh - brought you these." Eyes widening as if he can't believe he's actually saying it and his other arm, which had been behind his back is now thrust in front of him, a bunch of flowers clutched between white knuckles. They're all sorts and some of them look nearly dead so Harry suspects that he must've picked them from gardens on his way over here. He hears Louis snort from the doorway behind him but he doesn't turn around. He's a bit stunned and Niall suddenly looks ten times more nervous than before, fist still held out between them

  
"Err." Harry lets out, mind going blank. "Why?" 

  
Niall suddenly blushes and can't quite meet his eyes. He lets his arm drop, flowers still clutched in his hand, a few browning petals flutter to the floor.

  
"Well I wanted to apologise." Niall tells him quickly. "And I didn't really know what to bring you. I mean people always give flowers as a present to say sorry and I didn't really know what the male equivalent was and didn't want to turn up completely empty handed." He pauses to take a breath and his eyes catch Harry's again, making him gasp a breath again as their gazes lock. "Look, sorry that was shit. It doesn't matter. Forget I even picked them." 

  
Niall moves to drop them into their nearly waist high grass but Harry lunges automatically, hand enveloping around Niall's and curling around the stems.

  
"No." Harry murmurs ignoring the shivers shooting down his spine. "You picked them so I like them." 

  
Niall stares up at him wide eyed and Harry has to physically pull them out of Niall's grip. He hears Louis laugh again and Niall blushes redder before stammering out another apology. 

  
"I've only ever gone down the serious relationship route with girls before." He explains slowing his speech and allowing raw honesty to fill his eyes. Harry freezes to the spot and stares back at him. "That's why I sort of freaked out about it before and I know that I acted like a dick and I'm really sorry. Harry I'm really sorry."

  
"That's ok." Harry feels himself nod when he takes the time to realise what Niall is saying to him. Niall stares dumbly back at him. "I think."

  
"Really?" Niall asks still in shock. He hadn't expected that Harry would readily forgive him so quick. Harry hadn't really been expecting to forgive him that easily either but now that Niall was in front of him, and finally speaking to him, he just wants to forget all about it, gather him up in his arms and hold him tight. 

  
"I get it. I think I do anyway." Harry explains himself further, taking a step towards him. The alcohol is hitting him again, giving him just the right amount of confidence but he still has a surprisingly clear head.

"But if you think you can - we can try and make it work. I want to do that. Can we do that please?" Niall asks quietly looking up at him from behind fluttering eyelashes.

  
Harry feels his stomach swoop and his chest go tight, allowing a slow grin to grow on his face. "Yeah I think we can do that." 

  
Niall lets out a relieved laugh reaching forward to pull him in, kissing him soundly on the lips. There's a cheer behind him which Harry assumes comes from Louis but he doesn't care because Niall is wrapping his arms tight around his neck to pull him closer and Harry forgoes his grip on the wilting flowers to thread his hand into Niall's hair and hold him against him. Out of the few times they’ve kissed before, this is by far the best. Niall's lips are pliant below his, just enough pressure against him. He's able to lick into his mouth and taste the faint lingerings of coffee on his tongue. And the best part is that Niall is flush against him, pulling him closer with a hand on his neck and an arm looped around his waist with no intention of running away again.  

 

  



End file.
